Communication method, apparatus, and system

ABSTRACT

This application provides a communication method, an apparatus, and a system. The method includes: receiving, by a first management unit, a network component notification message sent by a second management unit, where the network component notification message carries tenant service instance information and status information of a network component, the tenant service instance information is corresponding to the status information of the network component, and the status information includes fault information and/or performance information; and determining, by the first management unit, status information of a network slice instance based on the network component notification message, where the status information of the network slice instance is corresponding to the tenant service instance information, and the network slice instance includes the network slice component. The communication method in embodiments of this application can improve network slice management efficiency.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/664,756, filed on Oct. 25, 2019, which is a continuation ofInternational Application No. PCT/CN2018/084842, filed on Apr. 27, 2018.The International Application claims priority to InternationalApplication No. PCT/CN2017/082270, filed on Apr. 27, 2017. All of theafore-mentioned patent applications are hereby incorporated by referencein their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of this application relate to the communications field, andmore specifically, to a communication method, an apparatus, and asystem.

BACKGROUND

With rapid development of mobile communication, a future mobilecommunications system needs to meet diversified service requirements,such as enhanced mobile broadband communication, massive machine typecommunication, and ultra-reliable and low-latency communication.Accordingly, a concept of network slicing is proposed in anext-generation mobile communications system. A network slicingtechnology means that a network is abstracted logically as one or morenetwork slices, each network slice provides a series of logical networkfunctions, and one network slice may meet a connection communicationservice requirement of one type of use cases or one use case. Thenext-generation mobile communications system may include a largequantity of network slices that satisfy different connectioncapabilities.

In terms of network slice management, operation, and maintenance, how toimprove network slice management efficiency needs an urgent solution inthe industry.

SUMMARY

This application provides a communication method, an apparatus, and asystem, to improve network slice instance management efficiency.

A first aspect provides a communication method, including receiving, bya first management unit, a network component notification message sentby a second management unit, where the network component notificationmessage carries tenant service instance information and statusinformation of a network component, the tenant service instanceinformation is corresponding to the status information of the networkcomponent, and the status information includes fault information and/orperformance information; and determining, by the first management unit,status information of a network slice instance based on the networkcomponent notification message, where the status information of thenetwork slice instance is corresponding to the tenant service instanceinformation, and the network slice instance includes the network slicecomponent.

In this embodiment of this application, the network componentnotification message sent by the second management unit to the firstmanagement unit carries the tenant service instance information, and thetenant service instance information is corresponding to the statusinformation of the network component, so that the first management unitcan manage the status information of the network slice instance based onthe tenant service instance information, thereby improving network sliceinstance management efficiency.

Optionally, the first management unit is a unit that manages the networkslice instance. The second management unit may be a unit that manages anetwork slice subnet instance, or the second management unit may be aunit that manages a network function.

Optionally, the first management unit may receive a plurality of networkcomponent notification messages. The plurality of network componentnotification messages may be from a same management unit or differentmanagement units. The plurality of network component notificationmessages may indicate status information of network components includedin the network slice instance. Each of the plurality of networkcomponent notification messages may carry the tenant service instanceinformation.

Optionally, the fault information and/or performance information mayinclude at least one of the following: a CPU usage, transmission portperformance measurement, uplink resource group measurement, a call droprate, a quantity of user connections, a delay, a throughput, inter-cellhandover measurement, and the like.

Optionally, the tenant service instance information includes at leastone of the following: a tenant identifier, a service instanceidentifier, a tenant service instance identifier, network sliceselection assistance information, network slice distinguishinginformation, a network slice type, a tenant level, a network slicesub-type, and a network slice level.

Optionally, the network slice selection assistance information mayinclude network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) orsingle-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

Optionally, the network slice type may be a service or network slicetype (SST). Optionally, the service or network slice type may includebut is not limited to URLL, mIoT, and eMBB. In this case, networkoperation and maintenance personnel may learn of network statusinformation corresponding to different network slice types, that is,network performance and fault information.

The tenant level is used to describe a tenant level of a terminal userthat accesses a slice. For example, an eMBB-type network slice isdivided into an eMBB, a VIP tenant network slice, an eMBB, a commontenant network slice, and the like. In this case, the network operationand maintenance personnel may learn of network status informationcorresponding to different levels of tenants, that is, networkperformance and fault information.

The network slice subtype is used to describe network slice subtypesobtained by breaking down one network slice type. For example, aneMBB-type network slice is divided into an eMBB, AR network slice, aneMBB, V2X network slice, an eMBB, Voice network slice, and the like. Inthis case, the network operation and maintenance personnel may learn ofnetwork status information corresponding to different network slicesubtypes, that is, network performance and fault information.

The network slice level is used to describe different network slicelevels of a same network slice type. For example, an eMBB-type networkslice is divided into an (eMBB, a network slice level 1 network slice,an eMBB, a network slice level 2 network slice, an eMBB, a network slicelevel 3 network slice, and the like. In this case, the network operationand maintenance personnel may learn of network status informationcorresponding to different network slice levels, that is, networkperformance and fault information.

Optionally, information about the tenant level, the network slicesubtype, and the network slice level may be included in the networkslice distinguishing information. For example, the network slicedistinguishing information includes 24 bits, of which the first eightbits are the information about the tenant level, the network slicesubtype, or the network slice level.

In a possible implementation, before the first management unit receivesthe network component notification message sent by the second managementunit, the method further includes: sending, by the first managementunit, network component subscription information to the secondmanagement unit, where the network component subscription informationincludes a statistical granularity, and the network componentsubscription information is used to instruct the second management unitto report the status information of the network component based on thestatistical granularity.

In this embodiment of this application, the first management unit mayadd the statistical granularity to the network component subscriptioninformation sent to the second management unit, so as to instruct thesecond management unit to report the status information of the networkcomponent based on the statistical granularity, thereby improvingnetwork slice instance management efficiency.

In a possible implementation, before the first management unit receivesthe network slice component notification message sent by the secondmanagement unit, the method further includes: sending, by the firstmanagement unit, network component subscription information to a thirdmanagement unit, where the network component subscription informationincludes a statistical granularity, the network component subscriptioninformation is used to instruct the third management unit to report thestatus information of the network component based on the statisticalgranularity, and the third management unit is configured to manage faultinformation and/or performance information of the second managementunit.

In a possible implementation, the statistical granularity includes atleast one of the following: a network slice instance granularity, anetwork slice subnet instance granularity, and a tenant service instancegranularity.

In a possible implementation, before the first management unit receivesthe network component notification message sent by the second managementunit, the method further includes: sending, by the first managementunit, first configuration information to the second management unit,where the first configuration information is used to indicate anassociation relationship between the network component and the tenantservice instance information.

In this embodiment of this application, the first management unit maysend the first configuration information to the second management unit,where the first configuration information is used to indicate theassociation relationship between the network component and the tenantservice instance information, so that the second management unit reportsthe status information, of the network component, corresponding to thetenant service instance information, thereby improving network slicemanagement efficiency.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending, bythe first management unit, the network slice instance notificationmessage to a fourth management unit, where the network slice instancenotification message includes the status information of the networkslice instance and the tenant service instance information.

A second aspect provides a communication method, including: generating,by a second management unit, a network component notification message,where the network component notification message carries tenant serviceinstance information and status information of a network component, thetenant service instance information is corresponding to the statusinformation of the network component, and the status informationincludes fault information and/or performance information; and sending,by the second management unit, the network component notificationmessage to a first management unit that manages a network sliceinstance, where the network slice instance includes the networkcomponent.

In this embodiment of this application, the network componentnotification message sent by the second management unit to the firstmanagement unit carries the tenant service instance information, and thetenant service instance information is corresponding to the statusinformation of the network component, so as to manage the statusinformation of the network slice instance based on the tenant serviceinstance information, thereby improving network slice instancemanagement efficiency.

Optionally, the first management unit is a unit that manages the networkslice instance. The second management unit may be a unit that manages anetwork slice subnet instance, or the second management unit may be aunit that manages a network function.

Optionally, the first management unit may receive a plurality of networkcomponent notification messages. The plurality of network componentnotification messages may be from a same management unit or differentmanagement units. The plurality of network component notificationmessages may indicate status information of network components includedin the network slice instance. Each of the plurality of networkcomponent notification messages may carry the tenant service instanceinformation.

Optionally, the fault information and/or performance information mayinclude at least one of the following: a CPU usage, transmission portperformance measurement, uplink resource group measurement, a call droprate, a quantity of user connections, a delay, a throughput, inter-cellhandover measurement, and the like.

Optionally, the tenant service instance information includes at leastone of the following: a tenant identifier, a service instanceidentifier, a tenant service instance identifier, network sliceselection assistance information, network slice distinguishinginformation, a network slice type, a tenant level, a network slicesub-type, and a network slice level.

Optionally, the network slice selection assistance information mayinclude network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) orsingle-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

In a possible implementation, before the sending, by the secondmanagement unit, the network component notification message to a firstmanagement unit that manages a network slice instance, the methodfurther includes: receiving, by the second management unit, networkcomponent subscription information sent by the first management unit,where the network component subscription information includes astatistical granularity, and the network component subscriptioninformation is used to instruct the second management unit to report thestatus information of the network component based on the statisticalgranularity.

In this embodiment of this application, the first management unit mayadd the statistical granularity to the network component subscriptioninformation sent to the second management unit, so as to instruct thesecond management unit to report the status information of the networkcomponent based on the statistical granularity, thereby improvingnetwork slice instance management efficiency.

In a possible implementation, the statistical granularity includes atleast one of the following: a network slice instance granularity, anetwork slice subnet instance granularity, and a tenant service instancegranularity.

In a possible implementation, before the sending, by the secondmanagement unit, the network component notification message to a firstmanagement unit that manages a network slice instance, the methodfurther includes: receiving, by the second management unit, firstconfiguration information sent by the first management unit, where thefirst configuration information is used to indicate an associationrelationship between the network component and the tenant serviceinstance information.

In this embodiment of this application, the first management unit maysend the first configuration information to the second management unit,where the first configuration information is used to indicate theassociation relationship between the network component and the tenantservice instance information, so that the second management unit reportsthe status information, of the network component, corresponding to thetenant service instance information, thereby improving network slicemanagement efficiency.

A third aspect provides an apparatus, configured to perform the methodin the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.Specifically, the apparatus includes a unit configured to perform themethod in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the firstaspect.

A fourth aspect provides an apparatus, configured to perform the methodin the second aspect or any possible implementation of the secondaspect. Specifically, the apparatus includes a unit configured toperform the method in the second aspect or any possible implementationof the second aspect.

A fifth aspect provides a network system, where the system includes theapparatus in the third aspect or the fourth aspect.

A sixth aspect provides an apparatus, where the apparatus includes acommunications interface, a memory, a processor, and a bus system. Thecommunications interface, the memory, and the processor are connected byusing the bus system. The memory is configured to store an instruction.The processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in thememory, to control the communications interface to receive a signaland/or send a signal. When the processor executes the instruction storedin the memory, the execution enables the processor to perform the methodin the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

A seventh aspect provides an apparatus, where the apparatus includes acommunications interface, a memory, a processor, and a bus system. Thecommunications interface, the memory, and the processor are connected byusing the bus system. The memory is configured to store an instruction.The processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in thememory, to control the communications interface to receive a signaland/or send a signal. When the processor executes the instruction storedin the memory, the execution enables the processor to perform the methodin the second aspect or any possible implementation of the secondaspect.

An eighth aspect provides a network system, where the system includesthe apparatus in the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect.

A ninth aspect provides a computer readable medium, configured to storea computer program, where the computer program includes an instructionused to perform the method in the first aspect or any possibleimplementation of the first aspect.

A tenth aspect provides a computer readable medium, configured to storea computer program, where the computer program includes an instructionused to perform the method in the second aspect or any possibleimplementation of the second aspect.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network management architectureaccording to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a network management architectureaccording to another embodiment of this application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication method according to anembodiment of this application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication method according toanother embodiment of this application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a communication method according toanother embodiment of this application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a communication method according toanother embodiment of this application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus according to an embodimentof this application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus according to anotherembodiment of this application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus according to anotherembodiment of this application; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus according to anotherembodiment of this application.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The following describes the technical solutions of this application withreference to accompanying drawings.

For ease of understanding of content in this application, some terms anda network slice management system in this application are describedbefore description of a method, an apparatus, and a system for managinga network slice instance in this specification.

Network slice (NSL): may also be referred to as a network slice instance(NSI).

A network slice is a logical network customized based on differentservice requirements on a physical or virtual network infrastructure.Alternatively, a network slice may be considered as a set of networkfunctions and resources that are required for implementing one serviceor some services. A complete network slice can provide completeend-to-end network services, and the network slice may include a networkslice subnet instance and/or a network function.

A network slice may be a complete end-to-end network including aterminal, an access network, a transport network, a core network, and anapplication server. The network slice is capable of providingtelecommunication services and has some network capabilities. Thenetwork slice may also be any combination of the foregoing terminal,access network, transport network, core network, and application server.Different network slices may have different features and networkfunctions included therein. Network slices may share some networkresources and functions. Network functions may include physical and/orvirtual network functions. The physical and/or virtual network functionare collectively referred to as a network function in thisspecification.

It should be understood that the term “slice” or slice instancementioned in this specification may be a network slice or a networkslice instance. Optionally, in embodiments of this application, anetwork slice instance may be used to represent a tenant serviceinstance in some scenarios.

Network slice subnet instance: A network slice subnet instance may notneed to provide complete end-to-end network services. The network slicesubnet instance may be a set of network functions of a same deviceprovider in a network slice instance, or may be a set of networkfunctions divided by domain, for example, a core network slice subnetinstance or an access network slice subnet instance, or may be a set ofseveral network functions (these network functions may belong to one ormore of an access network, a core network, and a transport network), ora set formed in another manner. A network slice subnet instance may beshared by a plurality of network slice instances. The proposed networkslice subnet instance can facilitate management of a network managementsystem. One network slice instance may include several network slicesubnet instances, and each network slice subnet instance includesseveral network functions and/or several network slice subnet instances.One network slice instance may include several network slice subnetinstances and a network function that has not been grouped into anetwork slice subnet instance; or one network slice instance may includeonly several network functions.

It should be understood that the term “subnet” mentioned in thisspecification may be a network slice subnet instance.

Network function (NF): is a processing function of a network, anddefines a functional behavior and interface. The network function may beimplemented by dedicated hardware, or may be implemented by dedicatedhardware running software, or may be implemented in a virtual functionform on a general-purpose hardware platform. Therefore, in terms ofimplementation, network functions may be classified as physical networkfunctions and virtual network functions. In terms of use, networkfunctions are classified as dedicated network functions and sharednetwork functions. Specifically, a plurality of network slice instancesor network slice subnet instances may independently use differentnetwork functions, and such network functions are referred to asdedicated network functions. Alternatively, a plurality of network sliceinstances or network slice subnet instances may share one networkfunction, and such network function is referred to as a shared networkfunction. A network function may be any one of the following: acore-network network function, an access-network network function, atransmission unit, or a network element (NE). For example, a gNodeB(gNB) in a 5G communications system or an evolved NodeB (eNB) may beconsidered as a network function.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network management architecture 100according to an embodiment of this application. The following describesfunctions of all modules in FIG. 1.

Service management function (SMF): is responsible for service relatedmanagement (including one or more of service operation, lifecyclemanagement, service fault management, service performance management,accounting, customer relationship management, and the like), andprovides a service for a terminal. Service management herein may bereplaced with a customer unit or a tenant. Alternatively, the servicemanagement function may include one or more of the following functions:converting a telecom service requirement of an operator and/or athird-party customer into a network slice requirement, sending a networkslice requirement to an NSMF, receiving a subscription requirement of anoperator and/or a third-party customer for network slice management data(such as performance data, fault data, and fault rectification data),obtaining network slice management data from an NSMF, and the like.

Network slice management function (NSMF) is also referred as across-domain slice manager (CDSM) unit, and provides a managementfunction and/or an orchestration function of a network slice (NSL). Forexample, the NSMF may include some or all of the following functions:network slice management such as network slice lifecycle management,network slice template management, network slice fault management,network slice performance management, and network slice configurationmanagement; mapping between a network slice and a subnet, and mappingbetween a network slice and a network function; coordination of networkresources or service level agreement (SLA) information provided bydifferent sub-domains (such as a core network domain, an access networkdomain, or a transport network domain); and uniform orchestration ofsubnet slices and network functions provided by sub-domains, where theuniform orchestration enables a subnet slice or a network functionprovided by each sub-domain meet a target-service requirement (such asan SLA requirement, a key performance indicator (KPI) requirement, and aquality of service (QoS) requirement).

Network slice subnet management function (NSSMF) is also referred to asa domain slice manager (DSM) unit and provides an intra-domain networkslice subnet management function and/or an intra-domain network slicesubnet orchestration function. For example, the NSSMF may include someor all of the following functions: intra-domain network slice subnetmanagement, including, for example, subnet lifecycle management(including creation, updating, deletion, and so on), subnet faultmanagement, subnet performance management, and subnet configurationmanagement; intra-domain service management, including, for example,service lifecycle management, service fault management, serviceperformance management, and service configuration management; andintra-domain network resource coordination for uniform orchestration.The network slice subnet management unit may be a domain management unitthat manages a single subnet (such as a core network domain slice subnetmanagement function (CN-NSSMF), an access network domain slice subnetmanagement function (AN-NSSMF), and a transport network domain slicesubnet management function (TN-DSM)), or may be a domain management unitthat manages hybrid subnets. In the latter case, a subnet managed by thedomain management unit may include two or all of a core network (CN), anaccess network (AN), or a transport network (TN).

Network function manager (NFM) module: is also referred to as a networkelement manager (EM) module configured to manage an NF and/or a networkelement (NE). As a logical entity, the network function manager modulecan be independent of an NF/NE, or be located in an NF/NE, or be locatedin another function module, and is configured to implement NF/NEmanagement such as NF/NE lifecycle management, NF/NE function parameterconfiguration, and network resource allocation for an NF/NE.

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a network managementarchitecture 200 according to another embodiment of this application.Units in the network management architecture 200 in FIG. 2 are describedas follows:

Service orchestrator (SO) unit is also referred to as a serviceorchestration and management unit or a service management unit, andincludes some or all of the following functions: service lifecyclemanagement (such as instantiation, updating, or deletion) based on aservice request message; service aggregation; service management such asservice fault, configuration, accounting, performance, and security(FCAPS) management; mapping between a service and a network slice; andthe like. A service may be a group of specified service level agreementcommunications services that are available for a user, such as a mobilebroadband (MBB) service, a voice service, and an Internet of things(IoT) service (such as an intelligent parking service or an intelligentmeter reading service). For example, a SO unit can manage a servicecarried on a network slice.

Network orchestrator (NO) unit is also referred to as a networkorchestration and management unit or a network management unit, andmainly includes some or all of the following functions: network slicemanagement, such as network slice lifecycle management and network slicetemplate management; mapping between a network slice and a networkfunction; coordination between different types of network resources;coordination between network resources provided by different operatorsand different network providers, to enable the network resourcesprovided by different network providers to meet a target-servicerequirement, such as an SLA requirement, a key performance indicator(KPI) requirement, and a quality of service (QoS) requirement; uniformorchestration of network devices provided by different providers; andprovision of an external application programming interface (API), wherethe API interface is configured to provide a network function for athird party to implement inter-operator deployment.

Network function manager (NFM) unit is also referred to as a networkelement manager (EM) unit and mainly includes some or all of thefollowing functions: network element or network function lifecyclemanagement (such as instantiation, updating, or deletion), networkelement or network function FCAPS management, and the like.

Network unit: The network unit may include at least one of a corenetwork unit, an access network unit, or a transport network unit. Itshould be noted that the network unit may be replaced with a networkfunction (NF) unit, or the network unit may have a function of a networkfunction unit.

Optionally, the SO unit or NO unit may be deployed in an operationssupport system (OSS), or the SO unit or NO unit may be deployedindependent of the OSS. The OSS may be understood as a support systemfor device and network maintenance, and is responsible for single-vendornetwork management or multi-vendor network management.

It can be understood that the foregoing descriptions of functions ofvarious units are merely examples, and the units may further have otherfunctions. This is not limited in the embodiment of the presentinvention.

Optionally, in an example, the SMF in the network managementarchitecture 100 may be deployed in the SO in the network managementarchitecture 200. Both the NSMF and the NSSMF in the network managementarchitecture 100 may be deployed in the NO in the network managementarchitecture 200.

Optionally, in another example, the SMF in the network managementarchitecture 100 may be deployed in the SO in the network managementarchitecture 200, the NSMF in the network management architecture 100may be deployed in the NO in the network management architecture 200,and the NSSMF in the network management architecture 100 may be deployedin the NFM in the network management architecture 200.

Optionally, in another example, the SMF and NSMF in the networkmanagement architecture 100 may be deployed in the SO in the networkmanagement architecture 200, and the NSSMF in the network managementarchitecture 100 may be deployed in the NO in the network managementarchitecture 200.

It should be understood that a network slicing technology is animportant technical means for a future network to meet dedicatedrequirements of different industries or different tenants. To improvenetwork resource utilization and simplify network slice operation andmaintenance, same or similar service level agreement (SLA) services of aplurality of tenants may be carried on one network slice instance. Forexample, a power meter reading service and a water meter reading servicemay be carried on one meter reading network slice instance. Internet ofthings services of different vendors may be carried on one network sliceinstance of an Internet of things service. In this network architecture,if network slice instance monitoring and management are performed on agranularity of a network slice instance, management performance on agranularity of a tenant cannot be presented to a tenant.

In the embodiments of this application, a method for managing andmonitoring a network slice instance on a granularity of a tenant serviceinstance is introduced, improving network slice instance managementefficiency.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 300 accordingto an embodiment of this application. The method 300 may be applied tothe network management architecture 100, the network managementarchitecture 200, a network management architecture 300, or anothersimilar network management architecture. When the method 300 is appliedto the network management architecture 100, a first management unit mayinclude the NSMF in the network management architecture 100, and asecond management unit may include the NSSMF in the network managementarchitecture 100.

S301. The first management unit receives a network componentnotification message sent by the second management unit, where thenetwork component notification message carries tenant service instanceinformation and status information of a network component, the tenantservice instance information is corresponding to the status informationof the network component, and the status information includes faultinformation and/or performance information.

Optionally, the network component may be a network function or a networkslice subnet instance included in the network slice instance.

Optionally, the first management unit is a unit that manages the networkslice instance. The second management unit may be a unit that manages anetwork slice subnet instance, or the second management unit may be aunit that manages a network function.

Optionally, the tenant service instance information may be used todistinguish a plurality of service instances carried on the networkslice instance.

Optionally, the status information, of the network component,corresponding to the tenant service instance information may be networkcomponent fault and/or performance information corresponding to thetenant service instance information. For example, the tenant serviceinstance information and the status information of the network componentmay be in one message or in one information element of a message.

In a specific example, it is assumed that the network componentnotification message is used to indicate a quantity of user connections.The network component notification message may be expressed in a form ofa first network slice subnet instance, a first tenant service instanceidentifier, a quantity of user connections: 200. The network componentnotification message indicates that the quantity of user connections ofthe first network slice subnet instance corresponding to the firsttenant service instance identifier is 200.

Optionally, the tenant service instance information may include at leastone of the following information: a tenant identifier, a serviceinstance identifier, a tenant service instance identifier, network sliceselection assistance information, network slice distinguishinginformation (Slice Differentiator, SD), a network slice type, a tenantlevel, a network slice sub-type, and a network slice level.

The network slice selection assistance information may include networkslice selection assistance information (NSSAI) or single-network sliceselection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

Optionally, the first management unit may receive a plurality of networkcomponent notification messages. The plurality of network componentnotification messages may be from a same management unit or differentmanagement units. The plurality of network component notificationmessages may indicate status information of network components includedin the network slice instance. Each of the plurality of networkcomponent notification messages may carry the tenant service instanceinformation.

Optionally, the fault information and/or performance information mayinclude at least one of the following: a CPU usage, transmission portperformance measurement, uplink resource group measurement, a call droprate, a quantity of user connections, a delay, a throughput, inter-cellhandover measurement, and the like.

Optionally, the network component notification message may be sentperiodically. Alternatively, the network component notification messagemay be sent based on a trigger condition. For example, the networkcomponent notification message may be sent when a fault occurs or amonitoring parameter exceeds a preset threshold.

Optionally, the second management unit may locally maintain anassociation relationship between a network slice subnet instance, thetenant service instance information and a network function. For example,a first subnet instance may be associated with a first network function,a second network function, and a third network function. The firstnetwork slice subnet instance and a first tenant service instance isassociated with the first network function. The first network slicesubnet instance, a second tenant service instance are associated withthe second network function. The first network slice subnet instance, athird tenant service instance are associated with the third networkfunction. After obtaining network function fault data or performancedata, the second management unit may aggregate, based on the locallymaintained association relationship between the network slice subnetinstance and the tenant service instance information and the networkfunction, the network function fault data or performance data as networkslice subnet instance fault data and/or performance data correspondingto the tenant service instance information.

S302. The first management unit determines status information of anetwork slice instance based on the network component notificationmessage, where the status information of the network slice instance iscorresponding to the tenant service instance information, and thenetwork slice instance includes the network slice component.

Optionally, the first management unit may obtain the status informationof the network slice instance based on the network componentnotification message. The first management unit may obtain the statusinformation of the network slice instance based on a single networkcomponent notification message, or may obtain the status information ofthe network slice instance based on a plurality of network componentnotification messages. The plurality of network component notificationmessages may be sent by a same management unit or may be sent by aplurality of management units. This is not limited in the embodiment ofthe present invention.

Optionally, the first management unit may aggregate, based on tenantservice instance identifier information, at least one network componentnotification message as the status information, of the network sliceinstance, corresponding to the tenant service instance information.

For example, the status information indicates a quantity of userconnections. It is assumed that the network slice instance includes thefirst network slice subnet instance and the second network slice subnetinstance. The first management unit may obtain a plurality of networkcomponent notification messages, including:

a first network component notification message: the first network slicesubnet instance, the first tenant service instance identifier, thequantity of user connections: 200

a second network component notification message: the second networkslice subnet instance, the first tenant service instance identifier, aquantity of user connections: 250 and

a third network component notification message: the second network slicesubnet instance, a second tenant service instance identifier, a quantityof user connections: 200.

The following status information of the network slice instance may beobtained based on the tenant service instance information:

a first network slice instance, the first tenant service instanceidentifier, a quantity of user connections: 450, and

the first network slice instance, the second tenant service instanceidentifier, a quantity of user connections: 200.

In this embodiment of this application, the network componentnotification message sent by the second management unit to the firstmanagement unit carries the tenant service instance information, and thetenant service instance information is corresponding to the statusinformation of the network component, so that the first management unitcan manage the status information of the network slice instance based onthe tenant service instance information, thereby improving network sliceinstance management efficiency.

Optionally, in the method 300, before the first management unit receivesthe network component notification message sent by the second managementunit, the method further includes: sending, by the first managementunit, network component subscription information to the secondmanagement unit, where the network component subscription informationincludes a statistical granularity, and the network componentsubscription information is used to instruct the second management unitto report the status information of the network component based on thestatistical granularity.

Optionally, that the network component subscription information is usedto instruct the second management unit to report the status informationof the network component based on the statistical granularity may beunderstood as that the network component subscription information isused to instruct the second management unit to report the statusinformation, of the network component, corresponding to the statisticalgranularity.

Optionally, that the statistical granularity is used to indicate astatistical granularity may be understood as that the statisticalgranularity may be a granularity corresponding to the status informationthat the second management unit needs to report.

For example, the statistical granularity may include at least one of thefollowing: a network slice instance granularity, a network slice subnetinstance granularity, and a tenant service instance granularity.

Specifically, if the statistical granularity indicates the tenantservice instance granularity, the second management unit can reportstatus information, of a network component, corresponding to a tenantservice instance. For example, if the status information is a delay, thestatus information, of the network component, corresponding to a tenantservice instance may be expressed as:

(a network slice subnet instance 1, a tenant service instance identifier1, a delay d1).

If the statistical granularity indicates the network slice subnetinstance granularity, the second management unit may report statusinformation, of a network component, corresponding to a network slicesubnet instance. For example, if the status information is a delay, thestatus information, of the network component, corresponding to a networkslice subnet instance may be expressed as:

a network slice subnet instance 1, a delay d1.

In this embodiment of this application, the first management unit maysend the statistical granularity to the second management unit, toinstruct the second management unit to report the status information ofthe network component based on the statistical granularity, therebyimproving network slice instance management efficiency.

Optionally, before the first management unit receives the network slicecomponent notification message sent by the second management unit, themethod 300 further includes: receiving, by the second management unit,the network component subscription information sent by the firstmanagement unit, where the network component subscription informationincludes the statistical granularity, and the network componentsubscription information is used to instruct the second management unitto report the status information of the network component based on thestatistical granularity.

The third management unit and the second management unit may manage anetwork slice subnet in different aspects. For example, the thirdmanagement unit may be configured to manage and control subscription andauthorization of the fault information and/or performance information ofthe second management unit. The second management unit may be configuredto perform storage and analysis.

Optionally, in the method 300, before the first management unit receivesthe network component notification message sent by the second managementunit, the method further includes: sending, by the first managementunit, first configuration information to the second management unit,where the first configuration information is used to indicate anassociation relationship between the network component and the tenantservice instance information.

Optionally, the first configuration information may be carried in thenetwork component subscription information, or may be carried in networkcomponent creation request information. To be specific, in onemanagement manner, the first management unit may indicate, in thenetwork component subscription information, the association relationshipbetween the network component and the tenant service instanceinformation to the second management unit. In another management manner,when creating the network component, the first management unit mayindicate the association relationship between the network component andthe tenant service instance information to the second management unit.In this way, the second management unit may locally maintain theassociation relationship between the network component and the tenantservice instance information. When sending the network componentsubscription information to the second management unit, the firstmanagement unit does not need to indicate the association relationshipbetween the network component and the tenant service instanceinformation or carry the tenant service instance information. In thelatter management manner, the first management unit may add thestatistical granularity to the network component subscriptioninformation, so as to instruct the second management unit to report thestatus information of the network component based on the statisticalgranularity.

In this embodiment of this application, the first management unit maysend the first configuration information to the second management unit,where the first configuration information is used to indicate theassociation relationship between the network component and the tenantservice instance information, so that the second management unit reportsthe status information, of the network component, corresponding to thetenant service instance information, thereby improving network slicemanagement efficiency.

Optionally, in the method 300, the method further includes: sending, bythe first management unit, the network slice instance notificationmessage to a fourth management unit, where the network slice instancenotification message includes the status information of the networkslice instance and the tenant service instance information.

Optionally, the fourth management unit may be the SMF unit in thenetwork management architecture 100.

Optionally, before the first management unit sends the network sliceinstance notification message to the fourth management unit, the firstmanagement unit may receive a network slice instance subscriptionmessage sent by the fourth management unit, where the network sliceinstance subscription message is used to instruct to obtain networkslice instance fault information and/or performance information.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 400 according toanother embodiment of this application. The method 400 may be applied tothe network management architecture 100, the network managementarchitecture 200, or another similar network management architecture.When the method 400 is applied to the network management architecture100, a first management unit may include the NSMF in the networkmanagement architecture 100, and a second management unit may includethe NS SMF in the network management architecture 100. For content inthe method 400 that is the same as or similar to that in the method 300,details are not described herein again.

As shown in FIG. 4, the method 400 includes:

S401. The second management unit generates a network componentnotification message, where the network component notification messagecarries tenant service instance information and status information of anetwork component, the tenant service instance information iscorresponding to the status information of the network component, andthe status information includes fault information and/or performanceinformation.

S402. The second management unit sends the network componentnotification message to the first management unit that manages a networkslice instance, where the network slice instance includes the networkcomponent.

Optionally, in the method 400, the first management unit sends networkcomponent subscription information to a third management unit, where thenetwork component subscription information includes a statisticalgranularity, the network component subscription information is used toinstruct the third management unit to report the status information ofthe network component based on the statistical granularity, and thethird management unit is configured to manage fault information and/orperformance information of the second management unit.

In this embodiment of this application, the network componentnotification message sent by the second management unit to the firstmanagement unit carries the tenant service instance information, and thetenant service instance information is corresponding to the statusinformation of the network component, so as to manage the statusinformation of the network slice instance based on the tenant serviceinstance information, thereby improving network slice instancemanagement efficiency.

Optionally, in the method 400, the statistical granularity includes atleast one of the following: a network slice instance granularity, anetwork slice subnet instance granularity, and a tenant service instancegranularity.

Optionally, in the method 400, before the second management unit sendsthe network component notification message to the first management unitthat manages the network slice instance, the method further includes:receiving, by the second management unit, first configurationinformation sent by the first management unit, where the firstconfiguration information is used to indicate an associationrelationship between the network component and the tenant serviceinstance information.

Optionally, in the method 400, the tenant service instance informationincludes at least one of the following: a tenant identifier, a serviceinstance identifier, a tenant service instance identifier, network sliceselection assistance information, network slice distinguishinginformation, a network slice type, a tenant level, a network slicesub-type, and a network slice level.

In a specific example, FIG. 5 shows a schematic flowchart of acommunication method 500 according to an embodiment of this application.The communication method 500 may be applied to the network managementarchitecture 100 or the network management architecture 200.Alternatively, the communication method 500 may be applied to anothersimilar network management architecture. A CDSM unit in the method 500may be the first management unit in the method 300 and the method 400. ADSM unit in the method 500 may be the second management unit in themethod 300 or the method 400. The communication method 500 includes thefollowing steps.

S501. An SMF unit sends allocated tenant service instance information tothe CDSM unit.

For example, the SMF unit adds the allocated tenant service instanceinformation to a network slice request or related subscriptioninformation sent to the CDSM unit, to indicate an associationrelationship between the tenant service instance information and anetwork component included in a network slice instance.

For example, the tenant service instance information may include atleast one of the following: a tenant identifier, a service instanceidentifier, network slice selection assistance information (such asNSSAI and S-NSSAI), and a network slice identifier.

S502. The CDSM unit sends network component subscription information tothe DSM unit, where the network component subscription information mayinclude fault subscription information, performance measurementinformation, or threshold monitoring operation information of thenetwork slice instance.

Optionally, the network component subscription information may be usedto instruct the DSM unit to report status information of a networkcomponent based on a statistical granularity.

For example, different statistical granularities may be indicated basedon different fault types or performance data.

For example, statistics on transmission port performance measurement anduplink resource group measurement may be collected based on a networkslice granularity and/or a network slice subnet granularity. Forexample, it may be indicated that statistics on a call drop rate, aquantity of users, a delay, a throughput, and inter-cell handovermeasurement are collected based on a tenant service instance informationgranularity.

S503. The DSM unit obtains network function fault and/or performanceinformation, and aggregates performance or fault data based on theindicated statistical granularity.

When statistics on the fault and/or performance information is collectedbased on the tenant service instance information granularity, the faultor performance data may be associated with a tenant service instanceidentifier. The network function fault and/or performance informationcollected by the DSM unit may carry the tenant service instanceinformation.

S504. The DSM unit sends a network component notification message to theCDSM unit, where the network component notification message may includethe network function fault and/or performance information or networkslice subnet instance fault and/or performance information. The networkcomponent notification message may further include the tenant serviceinstance identifier. The tenant service instance identifier isassociated with the network function fault and/or performanceinformation or the network slice subnet instance fault and/orperformance information.

S505. The CDSM unit aggregates, based on the tenant service instanceinformation granularity, received fault and/or performance informationof network slice subnet instances as status information, of the networkslice instance, corresponding to the tenant service instanceinformation. The status information of the network slice instanceincludes the tenant service instance information, and network sliceinstance performance or fault data corresponding to the tenant serviceinstance information.

S506. Optionally, the CDSM unit may aggregate fault and/performanceinformation of all tenant service instances carried on the network sliceinstance, to obtain the network slice instance fault and/performanceinformation.

In a specific example, FIG. 6 shows a schematic flowchart of acommunication method 600 according to an embodiment of this application.The communication method 600 may be applied to the network managementarchitecture 100 or the network management architecture 200.Alternatively, the communication method 600 may be applied to anothersimilar network management architecture. A CDSM unit in the method 600may be the first management unit in the method 300 and the method 400. ADSM unit in the method 600 may be the second management unit in themethod 300 or the method 400. A difference from the method 500 lies inthat, in the method 600, an association relationship between astatistical granularity and a network component may be preconfigured fora management unit at each layer. The communication method 600 includesthe following steps.

S601. An SMF unit pre-delivers a configuration policy to the CDSM unit,where the configuration policy is used to instruct the CDSM unit toreport fault and/or performance information based on a statisticalgranularity.

For example, the configuration policy may instruct the CDSM unit toreport a type 1 parameter based on a tenant service instance informationgranularity. Alternatively, the configuration policy may instruct theCDSM unit to report a type 2 parameter based on a network slice subnetinstance granularity.

For example, the SMF unit may allocate a tenant service instanceidentifier and add tenant service instance information to a networkslice request or related subscription information. The tenant serviceinstance information may include a tenant identifier, a service instanceidentifier, or the like.

S602. The CDSM unit sends a configuration request to the DSM unit, wherethe configuration request may carry an association relationship betweena tenant instance identifier and a network slice subnet instance.

For example, the association relationship may be expressed as (a tenantservice instance identifier, a network slice subnet instanceidentifier).

S603. The DSM unit determines an association relationship between thetenant service instance information and each network function based onthe configuration request.

S604. The DSM unit sends a network element configuration request to eachnetwork function management unit (such as an NFM unit), where therequest may carry an association relationship between a tenant serviceinstance identifier and a network function identifier.

Optionally, in this embodiment of this application, an associationrelationship between a network component and a statistical granularitycorresponding to fault and/or performance information reporting ispreconfigured. Therefore, the subscription request sent by the CDSM unitto the DSM unit or a subscription request sent by the DSM unit to theNFM may carry only the statistical granularity, with no need to carry anassociation relationship between the tenant service instance informationand a network component.

Optionally, if the statistical granularity indicates that thestatistical granularity is a tenant service instance level, statusinformation of a network component reported by each unit may carry atenant service instance identifier. If the statistical granularity is anetwork slice granularity and/or a subnet granularity, statusinformation of a network component reported by each unit does not needto carry a tenant service instance identifier.

In a specific example, a communication method 700 in the embodiments ofthis application is described in the following. The communication method700 may be applied to the network management architecture 100 or thenetwork management architecture 200. Alternatively, the communicationmethod 700 may be applied to another similar network managementarchitecture. A CDSM unit in the method 700 may be the first managementunit in the method 300 and the method 400. A DSM unit in the method 700may be the second management unit in the method 300 or the method 400.An S701 part to an S705 part describe a process of delivering a networkslice instance subscription request. S706 to S711 parts describe aprocess of reporting network slice instance fault and/or performanceinformation. The communication method 700 includes the following steps.

S701. An SMF unit sends a subscription request to the CDSM unit. Thesubscription request may include a performance subscription requestand/or a fault subscription request.

The subscription request may carry tenant service instance information.Specifically, the tenant service instance information may be used todistinguish a plurality of service instances carried on a network sliceinstance. For example, the tenant service instance information mayinclude a tenant identifier, a service instance identifier, a tenantservice instance identifier, network slice selection assistanceinformation, and network slice distinguishing information.

Optionally, the subscription request may carry information indicating anassociation relationship between the network slice instance and thetenant service instance information.

Optionally, the subscription request of the network slice instance maycarry a network slice instance identifier.

S702. After receiving the subscription request, the CDSM determines anetwork component associated with the tenant service instanceinformation. The network component includes a network slice subnetinstance and/or a network function.

Optionally, if the subscription request carries the informationindicating the association relationship between the network sliceinstance and the tenant service instance information, the CDSM maydetermine the network slice instance based on the subscription request.Further, the CDSM may determine, based on a locally maintainedrelationship between a network slice instance and a network component, anetwork component associated with a tenant service instance.

Optionally, if the subscription request carries no network sliceinstance identifier, the CDSM may find a corresponding network sliceinstance identifier based on a locally maintained associationrelationship between tenant service instance information and a networkslice instance identifier, and determine an associated network componentbased on a locally maintained correspondence between a network sliceinstance identifier and a network component identifier. It should benoted that the network component being the network slice subnet instanceis used as an example, one network slice instance may include aplurality of network slice subnet instances, and one network sliceinstance identifier may correspond to a plurality of network slicesubnet instance identifiers.

S703. The CDSM sends a network component subscription request to theDSM. The network component subscription request includes a networkcomponent fault subscription request and/or a network componentperformance subscription request.

Optionally, the network component subscription request may carry thetenant service instance information.

For example, the fault information and/or performance information mayinclude at least one of the following: a CPU usage, transmission portperformance measurement, uplink resource group measurement, a call droprate, a quantity of user connections, a delay, a throughput, inter-cellhandover measurement, and the like.

Optionally, the network component subscription request may be used toinstruct the DSM to report status information of a network componentbased on the statistical granularity.

For example, different statistical granularities may be indicated basedon different fault types or performance data.

For example, it may be indicated that statistics on a CPU usage,transmission port performance measurement, and uplink resource groupmeasurement are collected based on a network slice granularity and/or anetwork slice subnet granularity. For example, it may be indicated thatstatistics on a call drop rate, a quantity of users, a delay, athroughput, and inter-cell handover measurement are collected based on atenant service instance information granularity.

Optionally, the network component subscription request may further carrya network slice instance identifier.

S704. After receiving the network component subscription request, theDSM unit determines a network function instance associated with thetenant service instance information.

Optionally, the DSM unit may determine, based on a locally maintainedassociation relationship between a network slice subnet instanceidentifier and a network function instance identifier, the networkfunction instance associated with the tenant service instanceinformation. It should be understood that one network slice subnetinstance may include a plurality of network function instances.Therefore, one network slice subnet instance identifier may correspondto a plurality of network function instance identifiers.

Optionally, the DSM may locally maintain an association relationshipbetween (a network slice subnet instance, tenant service instanceinformation) and a network function.

For example, a first network slice subnet instance may be associatedwith a first network function, a second network function, and a thirdnetwork function. Specifically, (the first network slice subnetinstance, a first tenant service instance) is associated with the firstnetwork function, (the first network slice subnet instance, a secondtenant service instance) is associated with the second network function,and (the first network slice subnet instance, a third tenant serviceinstance) is associated with the third network function.

S705. The DSM unit sends a network function subscription request to anNFM unit, where the network function subscription request is used torequest to obtain corresponding network function instance fault and/orperformance information.

Optionally, the NFM unit may be a corresponding network functioninstance or a network function instance management unit.

Optionally, the network function subscription request may carry thetenant service instance information, a network function identifier, anda fault or performance parameter requested to be subscribed to.

Optionally, the network function subscription request may carryinformation indicating an association relationship between a networkfunction and the tenant service instance information.

Optionally, the network component subscription request may be used toinstruct the DSM to report status information of a network componentbased on the statistical granularity.

For example, different statistical granularities may be indicated basedon different fault types or performance data.

For example, the fault information and/or performance information mayinclude at least one of the following: a CPU usage, transmission portperformance measurement, uplink resource group measurement, a call droprate, a quantity of user connections, a delay, a throughput, inter-cellhandover measurement, and the like.

Optionally, the network function subscription request may further carrya network slice instance identifier or a network slice subnet instanceidentifier.

S706. The NFM unit sends a network function notification message to theDSM unit. The network function notification message includes networkfunction fault and/or performance information.

Optionally, the network function notification message includes thetenant service instance information, and the tenant service instanceinformation is corresponding to the network function fault and/orperformance information.

Optionally, the fault information and/or performance information mayinclude at least one of the following: a CPU usage, transmission portperformance measurement, uplink resource group measurement, a call droprate, a quantity of user connections, a delay, a throughput, inter-cellhandover measurement, and the like.

Optionally, the network function notification message may be sentperiodically. Alternatively, the network function notification messagemay be sent based on a trigger condition. For example, the networkfunction notification message may be sent when a fault occurs or amonitoring parameter exceeds a preset threshold.

Optionally, the network function notification message may include anetwork slice subnet instance identifier or a network slice instanceidentifier.

S707. The DSM unit receives the network function notification message,and determines, based on received network function instance fault orperformance information, network slice subnet instance fault orperformance information corresponding to a tenant service instance.

In a specific example, the performance information is delay data. Whenthe delay data is corresponding to a same piece of tenant serviceinstance information, the DSM unit may calculate an average value ofdelays of a same type of network function instance:PGW delay=(PGW instance 1 delay+PGW instance 2 delay+PGW instance 3delay)/3.

Then, the DSM unit adds up delays of different types of network functioninstances to obtain a total delay:PGW instance 1 delay+SGW instance 1 delay+MME instance 1 delay, where

delay indicates a delay, instance indicates different network instances,PGW indicates a packet gateway (PGW), SGW indicates a serving gateway(SGW), and MME indicates a mobility management entity (MME).

In another specific example, the performance data is a delay, and theDSM may receive a plurality of network function notification messages:

an NF instance 1, a tenant service instance identifier 1, a quantity ofuser connections: 200,

an NF instance 2, a tenant service instance identifier 1, a quantity ofuser connections: 250, and

an NF instance 2, a tenant service instance identifier 2, a quantity ofuser connections: 200.

Then, the DSM unit may obtain a quantity of user connections, of anetwork slice subnet instance, corresponding to each tenant serviceinstance identifier:

an NF instance 1, a tenant service instance identifier 1, a quantity ofuser connections: 450, and

an NF instance 1, a tenant service instance identifier 2, a quantity ofuser connections: 200.

The NF instance indicates different network function instances, and theNSSI instance indicates different network slice subnet instances.

Optionally, if a network component notification message reported by theNFM unit does not include the tenant service instance information, theDSM unit aggregates, based on a locally maintained associationrelationship between a tenant service instance identifier and a networkfunction instance identifier, at least one network componentnotification message as fault or performance information correspondingto a tenant service instance. Alternatively, the DSM unit may aggregate,based on a locally maintained association relationship between a tenantservice instance identifier and a network slice subnet instanceidentifier/network slice instance identifier, at least one networkcomponent notification message as network slice subnet instance fault orperformance information corresponding to a tenant service instance.

S708. The DSM unit sends a network slice subnet instance notificationmessage to the CDSM unit. The network slice subnet instance notificationmessage includes the tenant service instance information and networkslice instance fault and/or performance information corresponding to thetenant service instance information.

Optionally, the fault information and/or performance information mayinclude at least one of the following: a CPU usage, transmission portperformance measurement, uplink resource group measurement, a call droprate, a quantity of user connections, a delay, a throughput, inter-cellhandover measurement, and the like.

Optionally, the network slice subnet instance notification message maybe sent periodically. Alternatively, the network slice subnet instancenotification message may be sent based on a trigger condition. Forexample, the network slice subnet instance notification message may besent when a fault occurs or a monitoring parameter exceeds a presetthreshold.

Optionally, the network slice subnet instance notification message mayfurther carry a network slice subnet instance identifier or a networkslice instance identifier.

S709. After receiving the network slice subnet instance notificationmessage, the CDSM unit determines, based on the network slice subnetinstance notification message, the network slice instance fault and/orperformance information corresponding to the tenant service instanceinformation.

In a specific example, the performance information is a delay. It isassumed that a network slice instance includes a network slice subnetinstance 1 and a network slice subnet instance 2, and the network slicesubnet instance notification message includes:

a network slice subnet instance 1, a tenant service instance identifier1, a delay d1,

the network slice subnet instance 1, a tenant service instanceidentifier 2, a delay d2,

a network slice subnet instance 2, the tenant service instanceidentifier 1, a delay d3, and

the network slice subnet instance 1, the tenant service instanceidentifier 2, a delay d4.

Then, the CDSM unit may determine network slice instance fault and/orperformance information corresponding to each piece of tenant serviceinstance information:

the tenant service instance identifier 1, a network slice instance 1, adelay=d1+d3 and

(the tenant service instance identifier 2, the network slice instance 1,a delay=d2+d3.

S710. The CDSM unit sends, to the SMF unit, status information, of thenetwork slice instance, corresponding to the tenant service instanceinformation. The status information of the network slice instance mayinclude the fault and/or performance information.

Optionally, the status information of the network slice instance maycarry the tenant service instance information.

S711. Optionally, the CDSM unit may aggregate, based on a locallymaintained association relationship between a network slice instance andthe tenant service instance information, the network slice instancefault and/or performance information corresponding to the tenant serviceinstance information as the network slice instance fault and/orperformance information.

For example, the performance information is a quantity of userconnections, and a quantity of user connections, of a network sliceinstance, corresponding to each piece of tenant service instanceinformation is as follows:

a network slice instance identifier 1, the tenant service instanceidentifier 1, a quantity of user connections: 200 and

the network slice instance identifier 1, the tenant service instanceidentifier 2, a quantity of user connections: 300.

The CDSM unit may aggregate the quantities of user connections, of anetwork slice instance, corresponding to all tenant service instanceinformation as a quantity of user connections of the network sliceinstance as follows:

the network slice instance identifier 1, a quantity of user connections:400.

In a specific example, a communication method 800 in the embodiments ofthis application is described in the following. The communication method800 may be applied to the network management architecture 100 or thenetwork management architecture 200. Alternatively, the communicationmethod 800 may be applied to another similar network managementarchitecture. A CDSM unit in the method 800 may be the first managementunit in the method 300 and the method 400. A DSM unit in the method 800may be the second management unit in the method 300 or the method 400. Adifference from the method 700 lies in that, in the method 800, anassociation relationship between a statistical granularity and a networkcomponent may be preconfigured for a management unit at each layer. Thecommunication method 800 includes the following steps.

S801. An SMF unit sends a network slice instance creation request to theCDSM unit.

The network slice instance creation request may carry tenant serviceinstance information. Specifically, the tenant service instanceinformation may be used to distinguish a plurality of service instancescarried on a network slice instance. For example, the tenant serviceinstance information may include a tenant identifier, a service instanceidentifier, a tenant service instance identifier, network sliceselection assistance information, and network slice distinguishinginformation.

S802. The CDSM unit may create or reuse a network slice instance basedon the network slice instance creation request.

Optionally, the CDSM unit may determine to reuse an existing networkslice instance or create a new network slice instance, and maintain orsave an association relationship between a network slice instanceidentifier and the tenant service instance information.

S803. The CDSM unit may send a network slice subnet instance creation orconfiguration request to the DSM unit.

Optionally, the network slice subnet instance creation or configurationrequest carries an association relationship between the tenant serviceinstance information and a network slice subnet instance identifier.

S804. The DSM unit creates or configures a network slice subnet instancebased on the received network slice subnet instance creation orconfiguration request.

Optionally, when a network slice subnet instance needs to be created,the DSM unit may create a corresponding network function, and save andmaintain the association relationship between a network slice subnetinstance identifier and the tenant service instance information or anassociation relationship between a network function instance and thetenant service instance information.

Optionally, when a network slice subnet instance needs to be configured,the DSM unit may configure or request to configure a correspondingnetwork slice MO or network function MO tenant service instanceidentifier, or configure or request to configure a tenant serviceinstance identifier of a network function instance.

S805. The CDSM unit sends a network component subscription request tothe DSM unit. The network component subscription request includes anetwork component fault subscription request and/or a network componentperformance subscription request.

Optionally, the network component subscription request may carry thetenant service instance information.

For example, the fault information and/or performance information mayinclude at least one of the following: a CPU usage, transmission portperformance measurement, uplink resource group measurement, a call droprate, a quantity of user connections, a delay, a throughput, inter-cellhandover measurement, and the like.

Optionally, the network component subscription request may be used toinstruct the DSM to report status information of a network componentbased on the statistical granularity.

For example, different statistical granularities may be indicated basedon different fault types or performance data.

For example, it may be indicated that statistics on a CPU usage,transmission port performance measurement, and uplink resource groupmeasurement are collected based on a network slice granularity and/or anetwork slice subnet granularity. For example, it may be indicated thatstatistics on a call drop rate, a quantity of users, a delay, athroughput, and inter-cell handover measurement are collected based on atenant service instance information granularity.

Optionally, the network component subscription request may further carrya network slice instance identifier.

S806. The DSM unit sends a network function subscription request to anNFM unit, where the network function subscription request is used torequest to obtain corresponding network function instance fault and/orperformance information.

Optionally, the NFM unit may be a corresponding network functioninstance or a network function instance management unit.

Optionally, the network function subscription request may carry thetenant service instance information, a network function identifier, anda fault or performance parameter requested to be subscribed to.

Optionally, the network function subscription request may carryinformation indicating an association relationship between a networkfunction and the tenant service instance information.

Optionally, the network component subscription request may be used toinstruct the DSM to report status information of a network componentbased on the statistical granularity.

For example, different statistical granularities may be indicated basedon different fault types or performance data.

For example, the fault information and/or performance information mayinclude at least one of the following: a CPU usage, transmission portperformance measurement, uplink resource group measurement, a call droprate, a quantity of user connections, a delay, a throughput, inter-cellhandover measurement, and the like.

Optionally, the network function subscription request may further carrya network slice instance identifier or a network slice subnet instanceidentifier.

Content of S907 to S912 parts in the method 800 is the same as thecontent of the S806 to S811 parts in the method 700, and details are notrepeated.

The foregoing details the network slice management methods and thenetwork management architectures according to the embodiments of thisapplication with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 6, and the followingdetails apparatuses according to the embodiments of this applicationwith reference to FIG. 7 to FIG. 10.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 900 according to anembodiment of this application. It should be understood that theapparatus 900 can perform all the steps performed by the firstmanagement unit in the methods shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 6. To avoidrepetition, details are not described herein again. The apparatus 900includes a processing unit 901 and a communications unit 902.

The processing unit 901 is configured to: receive, by using thecommunications unit 902, a network component notification message sentby a second management unit, where the network component notificationmessage carries tenant service instance information and statusinformation of a network component, the tenant service instanceinformation is corresponding to the status information of the networkcomponent, and the status information includes fault information and/orperformance information; and determine status information of a networkslice instance based on the network component notification message,where the status information of the network slice instance iscorresponding to the tenant service instance information, and thenetwork slice instance includes the network slice component.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1000 according to anembodiment of this application. It should be understood that theapparatus 1000 can perform all the steps performed by the secondmanagement unit in the methods shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 6. To avoidrepetition, details are not described herein again. The apparatus 1000includes a processing unit 1001 and a communications unit 1002.

The processing unit 1001 is configured to: generate a network componentnotification message, where the network component notification messagecarries tenant service instance information and status information of anetwork component, the tenant service instance information iscorresponding to the status information of the network component, andthe status information includes fault information and/or performanceinformation; and send, by using the communications unit 1002, thenetwork component notification message to a first management unit thatmanages a network slice instance, where the network slice instanceincludes the network component.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1100 according to anembodiment of this application. It should be understood that theapparatus 1100 can perform all the steps performed by the firstmanagement unit in the methods shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 6. To avoidrepetition, details are not described herein again. The apparatus 1100includes:

a memory 1110, configured to store a program;

a communications interface 1120, configured to communicate with anotherdevice; and

a processor 1130, configured to execute the program in the memory 1110,where when the program is executed, the processor 1130 is configured toreceive, by using the communications interface 1120, a network componentnotification message sent by a second management unit, where the networkcomponent notification message carries tenant service instanceinformation and status information of a network component, the tenantservice instance information is corresponding to the status informationof the network component, and the status information includes faultinformation and/or performance information; and determine statusinformation of a network slice instance based on the network componentnotification message, where the status information of the network sliceinstance is corresponding to the tenant service instance information,and the network slice instance includes the network slice component.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1200 according toan embodiment of this application. It should be understood that theapparatus 1200 can perform all the steps performed by the secondmanagement unit in the methods shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 6. To avoidrepetition, details are not described herein again. The apparatus 1200includes:

a memory 1210, configured to store a program;

a communications interface 1220, configured to communicate with anotherdevice; and

a processor 1230, configured to execute the program in the memory 1210,where when the program is executed, the processor 1230 is configured togenerate a network component notification message, where the networkcomponent notification message carries tenant service instanceinformation and status information of a network component, the tenantservice instance information is corresponding to the status informationof the network component, and the status information includes faultinformation and/or performance information; and send, by using thecommunications interface 1220, the network component notificationmessage to a first management unit that manages a network sliceinstance, where the network slice instance includes the networkcomponent.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may be aware that the units andalgorithm steps in the examples described with reference to theembodiments disclosed in this specification may be implemented byelectronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronichardware. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or softwaredepends on particular applications and design constraints of thetechnical solutions. A person skilled in the art may use a differentmethod to implement the described functions for each particularapplication, but it should not be considered that the implementationgoes beyond the scope of this application.

It may be clearly understood by a person skilled in the art that, forthe purpose of convenient and brief description, for a detailed workingprocess of the foregoing system, apparatus, or unit, reference may bemade to a corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, anddetails are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should beunderstood that the disclosed system, apparatus, and method may beimplemented in other manners. For example, the described apparatusembodiments are merely examples. For example, the unit division ismerely logical function division and may be other division in actualimplementation. For example, a plurality of units or components may becombined or integrated into another system, or some features may beignored or may be not performed. In addition, the displayed or discussedmutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections may beindirect couplings or communication connections through some interfaces,apparatuses, or units, and may be implemented in electrical, mechanical,or other forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physicallyseparate. Parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, andmay be located in one position or distributed on a plurality of networkunits. Some or all of the units may be selected based on actualrequirements to achieve the objectives of the solutions of theembodiments.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of this application maybe integrated into one processing unit, or each of the units may existalone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

When the functions are implemented in the form of a software functionalunit and sold or used as an independent product, the functions may bestored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such anunderstanding, the technical solutions of this application essentially,or the part contributing to the prior art, or some of the technicalsolutions may be implemented in a form of a software product. Thesoftware product is stored in a storage medium, and includes severalinstructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personalcomputer, a server, or an apparatus) to perform all or some of the stepsof the methods described in the embodiments of this application. Theforegoing storage medium includes any medium that can store programcode, such as a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, a read-onlymemory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or anoptical disc.

The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementations of thisapplication, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of thisapplication. Any variation or replacement readily figured out by aperson skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in thisapplication shall fall within the protection scope of this application.Therefore, the protection scope of this application shall be subject tothe protection scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication method comprising: sending, by afirst management unit, first subscription information to a secondmanagement unit, wherein the first subscription information comprises astatistical granularity, and the first subscription informationindicates reporting status information of a first network componentbased on the statistical granularity; receiving, by the secondmanagement unit, the first subscription information from the firstmanagement unit; generating, by the second management unit, a firstnotification message, wherein the first notification message carriestenant service instance information and status information of the firstnetwork component, the tenant service instance information is associatedwith the status information of the first network component, and thestatus information of the first network component comprises faultinformation and/or performance information; sending, by the secondmanagement unit, the first notification message to the first managementunit, wherein the network slice instance comprises the first networkcomponent; receiving, by the first management unit, the firstnotification message from the second management unit, wherein the firstnotification message carries tenant service instance information and thestatus information of the first network component, the tenant serviceinstance information corresponds to the status information of the firstnetwork component, and the status information of the first networkcomponent comprises at least one of fault information and performanceinformation; sending, by the first management unit, second subscriptioninformation to a third management unit, wherein the second subscriptioninformation comprises the statistical granularity, and the secondsubscription information indicates reporting status information of asecond network component based on the statistical granularity;receiving, by the first management unit, a second notification messagefrom the third management unit, wherein the second notification messagecarries the tenant service instance information and the statusinformation of the second network component, the tenant service instanceinformation corresponds to the status information of the second networkcomponent, and the status information of the second network componentcomprises at least one of fault information and performance information;and determining, by the first management unit, status information of anetwork slice instance based on the tenant service instance information,the status information of the first network component and the statusinformation of the second network component, wherein the statusinformation of the network slice instance corresponds to the tenantservice instance information, and the network slice instance comprisesthe first network component and the second network component.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the statistical granularitycomprises at least one of the following: a network slice instancegranularity, a network slice subnet instance granularity, or a tenantservice instance granularity.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the first managementunit, first configuration information to the second management unit,wherein the first configuration information indicates an associationrelationship between the first network component and the tenant serviceinstance information; sending, by the first management unit, secondconfiguration information to the third management unit, wherein thesecond configuration information indicates an association relationshipbetween the second network component and the tenant service instanceinformation.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tenantservice instance information comprises at least one of the following: atenant identifier, a service instance identifier, a tenant serviceinstance identifier, network slice selection assistance information,network slice distinguishing information, a network slice type, a tenantlevel, a network slice sub-type, or a network slice level.
 5. Acommunication method comprising: receiving, by a second management unit,first subscription information from a first management unit that managesa network slice instance, wherein the first subscription informationcomprises a statistical granularity, and the first subscriptioninformation indicates reporting status information of a networkcomponent based on the statistical granularity; generating, by thesecond management unit, first notification message, wherein the firstnotification message carries tenant service instance information andstatus information of the network component, wherein the tenant serviceinstance information is associated with the status information of thenetwork component, and wherein the status information of the networkcomponent comprises fault information and/or performance information;and sending, by the second management unit, the first notificationmessage to the first management unit, wherein the network slice instancecomprises the network component.
 6. The method according to claim 5,wherein the statistical granularity comprises at least one of thefollowing: a network slice instance granularity, a network slice subnetinstance granularity, or a tenant service instance granularity.
 7. Themethod according to claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:receiving, by the second management unit, first configurationinformation from the first management unit, wherein the firstconfiguration information indicates an association relationship betweenthe network component and the tenant service instance information. 8.The method according to claim 5, wherein the tenant service instanceinformation comprises at least one of the following: a tenantidentifier, a service instance identifier, a tenant service instanceidentifier, network slice selection assistance information, networkslice distinguishing information, a network slice type, a tenant level,a network slice sub-type, or a network slice level.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 5, wherein the method further comprises: sending, bythe first management unit, the first subscription information to thesecond management unit; receiving, by the first management unit, thefirst notification message sent by the second management unit;determining, by the first management unit, status information of anetwork slice instance based on the first notification message, whereinthe status information of the network slice instance corresponds to thetenant service instance information.
 10. The method according to claim9, wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the firstmanagement unit, the status information of the network slice instance toa third management unit.
 11. The method according to claim 9, whereinthe method further comprises: receiving, by the first management unit, asubscription request from a third management unit, wherein thesubscription request comprises the tenant service instance information.12. The method according to claim 5, wherein the method furthercomprises: determining, by the second management unit, a networkfunction instance associated with the tenant service instanceinformation; sending, by the second management unit, second subscriptioninformation to a management unit that manages the network functioninstance, wherein the second subscription information indicatesreporting the status information of the network function instance;receiving, by the second management unit, second notification message,wherein the second notification message comprises status informationfault information and/or performance information of the network functioninstance; wherein the generating, by the second management unit, thesecond notification message, comprises: generating, by the secondmanagement unit, the first notification message based on the secondnotification message.
 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein thesecond subscription information comprises association informationindicating an association relationship between the network functioninstance and the tenant service instance information.
 14. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein the second subscription informationcomprises: the tenant service instance information, an identifier of thenetwork function instance, or subscribed fault information and/orperformance information.
 15. The method according to claim 12, whereinthe generating, by the second management unit, the first notificationmessage based on the second notification message, comprises: generating,by the second management unit, the fault information and/or performanceinformation associated with the tenant service instance based on theinformation and/or performance information corresponding to the networkfunction instance.
 16. An apparatus comprising at least one processorand a transceiver, wherein the transceiver is configured, incoordination with the at least one processor, to: receive firstsubscription information from a first management unit, wherein the firstsubscription information comprises a statistical granularity, and thefirst subscription information indicates reporting status information ofa network component based on the statistical granularity; and send afirst notification message to the first management unit that manages anetwork slice instance, wherein the network slice instance comprises thenetwork component; and the at least one processor is configured togenerate the first notification message, wherein the first notificationmessage carries tenant service instance information and statusinformation of the network component, wherein the tenant serviceinstance information is associated with the status information of thenetwork component, and the status information comprises faultinformation and/or performance information.
 17. The apparatus accordingto claim 16, wherein the statistical granularity comprises at least oneof the following: a network slice instance granularity, a network slicesubnet instance granularity, or a tenant service instance granularity.18. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the at least oneprocessor unit is further configured to: receive first configurationinformation from the first management unit, wherein the firstconfiguration information indicates a relationship between the networkcomponent and the tenant service instance information.
 19. The apparatusaccording to claim 16, wherein the tenant service instance informationcomprises at least one of the following: a tenant identifier, a serviceinstance identifier, a tenant service instance identifier, network sliceselection assistance information, network slice distinguishinginformation, a network slice type, a tenant level, a network slicesub-type, or a network slice level.
 20. The apparatus according to claim16, wherein the transceiver is further configured to: send a secondsubscription information to a network function manager that manages anetwork function instance, wherein the second subscription informationis used to instruct the network function manager to report statusinformation of the network function instance; and receive a secondnotification message, wherein the second notification message comprisesstatus information fault information and/or performance information ofthe network function; wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to: determine the network function instance corresponding tothe tenant service instance information; and generate a first messagebased on the second notification message.